With the rapid progression of urbanization, Chinese cities are encountering an increasingly severe shortage of land resources. To examine the role of digital finance (DF) in promoting economic agglomeration (EA) and subsequently improving urban land use efficiency (ULUE), this paper focuses on 274 prefecture-level cities from 2013 to 2020. By employing an interaction effect model, the study analyzes how DF influences the relationship between EA and the enhancement of ULUE. The findings demonstrate that DF positively moderates the effect of EA on enhancing ULUE. The analysis reveals that DF can accelerate resource flows and more effectively promote the enhancement of ULUE by amplifying the positive influence of EA on regional innovation ability (IA) and the rationalization of industrial structures (RIS). Furthermore, the heterogeneity analysis indicates that this moderating effect is particularly pronounced in China’s central and eastern regions, areas with higher rates of internet penetration, and regions with stronger innovation capacities. Based on these findings, this paper proposes policy recommendations such as promoting regional integration and supporting innovation in DF. These insights contribute to the theoretical discourse on EA in the digital era and provide critical and practical guidance for optimizing the development of agglomeration economies and constructing a high-quality development framework.

Urban land use eco-efficiency (ULUEE) encapsulates the equilibrium between economic gains and environmental sustainability. The improvement of ULUEE has emerged as a critical measure in addressing climate change and achieving dual-carbon objectives. This paper examines the potential of public data in enhancing ULUEE, focusing on public data openness (PDO), using a sample of 294 prefecture-level cities spanning from 2014 to 2022. The findings indicate that PDO has a significant positive impact on ULUEE, a result that remains robust through various sensitivity tests. Further analysis reveals that PDO fosters urban innovation, stimulates industrial agglomeration, optimizes urban industrial structures, and further enhances ULUEE through innovation effects, agglomeration effects, and structural effects. A heterogeneity analysis shows that this positive effect is more pronounced in regions with higher financial development levels and in the economically advanced eastern regions, suggesting that the ecological benefits derived from PDO are contingent upon a solid economic foundation. Additionally, the effect is more substantial in regions with weaker digital infrastructure and suboptimal environmental regulation, implying that public data can compensate for deficiencies in urban digital infrastructure and environmental governance, thereby contributing to improvements in ULUEE. This paper broadens the existing literature on the ecological value of public data, uncovers the potential of PDO in promoting ULUEE, and offers a practical framework for leveraging PDO to facilitate urban green transformation and ecological advancement.

As urbanization progresses rapidly, cities face growing challenges of land resource scarcity and the pressure on green ecological spaces. This not only affects the sustainable development of cities but also presents a major challenge to the resilience of urban ecosystems (UER). As an emerging land use model, land financialization (LF), which involves the circulation and financing of land as a financial asset, has become an important means to promote UER. Therefore, this paper examines 221 prefecture-level cities across mainland China to explore the impact of land financialization on urban ecological resilience and aims to reveal the specific pathways through which land financialization improves urban ecological resilience through mechanisms like resource reallocation, industrial structure rationalization, green innovation, green signals, and environmental regulation. This paper employs a two-way fixed effects model, robustness tests, and endogeneity tests, supplemented by mechanism and heterogeneity analysis, to explore the impact of LF on UER. The findings show that LF plays a significant role in improving UER. Mechanism analysis reveals that LF significantly boosts UER by optimizing the distribution of land and financial resources, as well as enhancing the rationalization of the industrial structure. Additionally, enterprise green technology innovation, green value, and the intensity of environmental regulation play a positive moderating role in this process. In addition, the heterogeneity analysis reveals the inclusive characteristics of LF on urban ecological transformation. In cities with higher levels of land price distortion, as well as in old industrial cities, small cities, and peripheral cities with poorer resource characteristics and administrative resources, LF has a more significant impact on promoting the improvement of UER. Based on the findings, this paper proposes policy recommendations to promote the improvement of urban green ecology and support the innovation of land financialization. These insights contribute to the theoretical discourse on greenization and provide essential, practical guidance for optimizing the allocation of land and financial resources, as well as establishing a framework for green and high-quality development.

Enhancing Energy-Embedded Green Utilization Efficiency of Urban Land (E-GUEUL) is crucial for reconciling economic growth with carbon neutrality targets, with the Integration of the Digital–Real Economy (IDRE) emerging as a key driver. This study measures city-level E-GUEUL using the super-efficiency SBM–Malmquist index model. To rigorously identify the causal effect of IDRE on E-GUEUL and address potential model misspecification and high-dimensional confounding factors, a Double Machine Learning (DML) framework is employed. Findings reveal a robust and significant positive effect of IDRE on E-GUEUL, a conclusion that holds across a series of robustness checks and endogeneity controls. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that the efficiency enhancement is more pronounced in non-resource-based, digitally developed, and eastern or central cities. Mechanism analysis reveals that optimizing Energy Consumption Intensity acts as a short-term driver, while Green Technology Innovation and Environmental Regulation serve as long-term sustainers. Furthermore, moderating effects reveal that Marketization exerts a positive moderating influence. This study provides empirical evidence and policy insights for leveraging IDRE to advance green growth through tailored approaches.